Mandy's Musings

Monday, 5 November 2012

My fellow Chocliteer, and fab writer, Liz Harris, kindly asked if she could
pass The Next Big Thing baton on to
me. I was delighted to accept and would like to talk about my ‘next big thing’,
my novel A Stitch in Timewhich will
be published by Choc Lit on the 7th
of April next year.

I can only hope that my novel will be as warmly received as
The Road Back, Liz’s evocative tale
of forbidden and lost love in Ladakh, a beautiful setting just north of the Himalayas.

So here goes:

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I have absolutely no idea. Well, that’s
not strictly true. I have always been interested in time travel, and watched
things like Dr who and Ashes to Ashes. But the idea just popped into my head as
they often do, about 3 o'clock in the morning.

What genre does your book fall under?

Commercial Women’s Fiction – (romantic
comedy/fantasy)

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

That’s a tricky one. Probably somebody
like Kate Winslet for Sarah, as she’s no nonsense, witty, but quite vulnerable
at the same time, and Adam Rayner (the guy who plays Aidan in Hunted) for John
Needler, as he looks very much like him and is strong yet caring.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Sarah Yates yearns for more excitement in
her life, but travelling to the ends of the earth through time and space while trying
to keep a new love...well, that’s more than any woman can take...isn’t it?

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your
manuscript?

Six weeks! Yes, I know that is stupidly
fast, but it just wrote itself. I just switched on the laptop each day and left
it. When I got back home it was done...That was a joke by the way.

What other books would you compare this story to within your
genre?

I can’t think of a book, but I guess the
old Quantum Leap series is the closest.Only
people over thirty-five would probably remember it I think!

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I think it should appeal to a wide range
of people as it has bits for everyone. It has humour, romance, suspense, and
because of the time travel aspect, should be of interest to readers of
historical fiction too. Sarah travels to the Sheffield Blitz, The Old American
West, Edwardian London and London again in 1928.

There are two very exciting and
interesting writers who have agreed to run with the baton in the next few weeks
and tell us all about their next big thing. Liv Thomas will do hers on Monday the
12th of November and Trevor Belshaw will do his on Monday the 19th of November.